CEUs: 2/session for 12 total

*6 Fridays: October 14, November 11, 2016, February 24, March 24, April 21, & May 26, 2017

Instructors: Laura McGrew, Judy Shaw, Robert J Moretti, Lorna Crowl, Jane Kamerling,  & Ken James

This year’s Jungian Concepts Seminar is being presented by six seasoned Jungian analysts.   This seminar is open to anyone interested in exploring Jung’s concepts, and is suitable for both new and returning participants, clinicians and non-clinicians. Questions and discussion will be welcome at each session. Topics to be covered:

October 14: On the Nature of Suffering, Laura McGrew, LCPC
Is it real or imagined, a happenstance in one’s life or a purposive reality? Neurotic or reflective? Or, are all of these possibilities just facets involved in the experience? John Keats challenges us by saying, “Do you not know how necessary a world of pain and trouble is to school an intelligence and make it a soul?” (Letters of John Keats). In this seminar, the nature and forms of suffering and how they connect by detraction and enhancement to one’s individuation process will be explored. Jung’s ideas, clinical material, and fairy tale characters will be used to expand our understanding of the subject. Bring examples of times of suffering in your life.

November 11: The Gift of Uncertainty, Judy Shaw, LCSW
“Each is deceived by the sense of finality peculiar to the stage of development at which he stands,” (Modern Man in Search of a Soul). The challenge for many of us is to grow out of the certainty that we know about “stuff,” e.g., how the world works, God, global politics, love. We grapple with the illusion that certainty is a sign of smartness when, actually, the opposite is true. Experiencing the freedom, the gift to say comfortably “I don’t know,” will be explored. This seminar will be a discussion of Jung’s ideas about uncertainty and finality, the wisdom of a ‘cloud of unknowing,’ and will include sharing thoughts about the place of uncertainty in our own experiences.

February 24: Further Explorations of Consciousness, Robert J. Moretti, PhD
What do we really know about consciousness? While we often think of it in practical ways, when we contrast it with the unconscious, a clear articulation of the nature of consciousness remains elusive after centuries of speculation and research. In this seminar, several contributions to the delineation of consciousness will be discussed, including Jung’s work, Buddhism, quantum physics, and psychedelics. The goal of the discussion is to find links between these various perspectives, and to consider the ways they point to the capacity for an interdependent (or what some might call mystical) consciousness. We will also discuss practical methods that can facilitate the development of such a consciousness.

March 24: The Challenge of the Opposites: Awake or Asleep? Lorna Crowl, LCSW
The political and social milieu in which we are currently residing is extremely polarizing. For example, most have strong opinions about the political candidates as well as the issues confronting us: gun control, police behavior, all/some lives matter, glass ceilings, transgender bathrooms, etc. Although we may feel righteous in our opinions and beliefs, willing to fight for what we believe in, there is also a shadow side that begs to be examined. As Jung said, “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” Herein is an opportunity for us to expand our consciousness. This evening will be devoted to exploring how we unwittingly get caught up in the crowd; how this may cause harm to self and others, and ways that we can be true to ourselves and our beliefs without exacting harm.

April 21: The Psychology of Terrorism, Jane Kamerling, LCSW
This seminar will consider the groundbreaking work of Eric Neumann’s Depth Psychology and The New Ethic, written in 1949, as a basis for focusing on the psychology of terrorism today. This could have been written yesterday. We will explore the psychology of the terrorist and terrorism within the context of environmental disasters that have created uncontrollable outcomes for societies and individuals. Sixty-eight years later, maybe we can begin to develop a new ethic.

May 26: Flying Saucers, Fortune Telling, Mediums and Magic: Why Jung writes about esoterica, Ken James, PhD
When reading Jung’s Collected Works, it doesn’t take very long before discovering that, in addition to more traditional subjects like psychotherapy and dementia praecox (schizophrenia), the writings include investigations into UFOs, Spiritualism, Divination, and Alchemy. From the perspective of Analytical Psychology, these topics are deemed as worthy of study as any other psychological phenomenon. In this seminar, possible explanations for this will be explored. The discussion will begin with the ways in which Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious turns the world of psychology not upside down, but shifts it ninety degrees, opening up a wide range of topics for investigation.